He was playing his first game in seven weeks after recovering from a broken jaw.

Sea Eagles winger Matt Wright scored a minute into the second half, but it came at a cost with the winger injuring his shoulder as he spectacularly dived in the corner.

With a dozen players backing up from last weekend's representative round, both sides looked rusty and handling errors marred the 80 minutes. The home side completed at just 68 per cent, and the Sea Eagles at 71.

After an early James Maloney penalty goal, it was Manly who crossed for the first four-pointer when back-rower Joel Thompson barged his way over after 11 minutes.

The Panthers should have levelled up three minutes later, but Tyrone Phillips's left boot hit the sideline after a wayward pass from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

They eventually hit back in the 35th minute when Sione Katoa put Dallin Watene-Zelezniak into a hole and the in-form fullback slammed the ball down for an 8-6 lead.

It looked like the Sea Eagles would take a lead into half-time when Brad Parker crossed in the corner, but the Bunker deemed Shaun Lane had obstructed Maloney.

But the afternoon belonged to the Sea Eagles, who recorded their first win in Penrith since 2011.